


Torn Parchment

by aguwustdick (sugandrew), beary_scary



Series: A Simple Spoonful [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Coffee Shop, Emotional Abuse, NO physical abuse, No Romance, OC needs a hug, Our baby Honey, PURELY PLATONIC, Protective Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Stalker-ish ex, Swearing, a lot of swearing, ex problems, past bad relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 15:35:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18285194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugandrew/pseuds/aguwustdick, https://archiveofourown.org/users/beary_scary/pseuds/beary_scary
Summary: Honey is acting a little different than normal and Five notices immediately. How will he react when it's revealed that the problem is Honey's ex-boyfriend?





	Torn Parchment

**Author's Note:**

> TW: The boyfriend was kind of emotionally abusive towards Honey when they dated. So if that's a trigger for you, please don't read.

Honey and Five have been acquaintances for a couple of weeks now, but the college girl has not told Five about her private life. To be fair, Five hasn’t told her much about himself either.  
There was a part of her life that she never wanted Five to find about. Not that she was embarrassed, she just didn’t want to talk about it and then plague his thoughts as well as her own. 

Marcus was a dick.  
That’s one of the only ways she can phrase his entire being.  
He wouldn’t let her go to parties. He would get mad about what she wore or what makeup she put on. He got angry easily and would eventually just start yelling at her. Honey was miserable with him, but never felt like she had enough power to leave him.

Until her roommate, Katie, told her to “get your head out of that amazing ass of yours and see him how I see him. A jerk who you need to dump immediately.” Honey listened to the older girl and broke up with Marcus and that was that.

Well, besides the non-stop letters she’s been receiving, of course.

Five and Honey were in their usual seats during the girl’s night-shift and the boy could immediately tell that something was wrong with his acquaintance. She kept clenching something in her pocket, the crinkling sound hinting that it is a piece of paper, and kept shifting her eyes to the door. Repeatedly. Every couple of seconds. Five continued to tell the story about his sister and a strange photographer when he noticed that Honey’s eyes glazed over, she zoned out. He stopped his story-telling, waiting for her to notice, but not once did she show signs that she was aware of her surroundings. Or, at least, not the man-child sitting in front of her.

“Honey?” He asked, getting no response. Becoming impatient (and concerned), Five snapped his fingers in front of her face, finally gaining a reaction from the twenty-three year old. 

Honey jolted backwards and immediately straightened her back. Five stared at her curiously as she began to calm down, “What’s wrong?” 

The college student froze and immediately plastered a smile onto her face, “Nothing! Nothing, sorry, I guess I was just zoning out a little.” She falsely chuckled. The now thirteen year-old narrowed his eyes until her zeroed them in on the girl’s left hand that was, once again, clenching onto a paper in her pocket. “Could you pass me the splenda?” He asked innocently. Thinking nothing of it, the girl took her hand out of her pocket and reached to grab the splenda packets from the counter. 

Having enough with wondering what was wrong with her, Five used his power to quickly teleport next to Honey, reach into her apron pocket, grab the papers, and teleport to the other side of the room.  
Everything went quiet in the shop as Honey froze with a deer-in-headlights look on her face when she looked at Five who, in return, flattened out the stolen papers on a nearby table so he could better read them.

Honey stayed silent as she watched her friend. Her thoughts ran wild as she stood, still clutching the splenda packets.

'Motherfucker. He never uses Splenda. Why did I think he would actually taste something good for once in his fucking life. He drinks black coffee. That’s basically piss. Fucking bitch this is untubular as fuck.'

“Henriwho?” She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Five’s whisper. “Oh shit.” He looked up, “Who the fuck is Henrietta and why is someone, with horrible penmanship, writing to her? And also, why do you have her letters?” Honey loudly swallowed, “You sure are asking a lot of questions tonight, buddy. Aren’t ya, Chief?” The nosey man-child narrowed his eyes at her, 

“Honey, is your real name Henrietta?”  
“No, shut up, nerd.”  
“Wait is it actually?”  
“Uh...maybe.”  
“Wait, are you serious?”  
“I mean-”

“Why did this person say they are going to “Go to your fucking apartment if you don’t reply”?” Honey looked at Five blankly, “Because he’s going to go to my fucking apartment if I don’t reply.” Rolling his eyes, the old child glared at the sarcastic reply, “Why is he bothering you?” The barista sighed and hopped over the counter to sit at one of the wiped-off tables closer to her friend. He waited patiently for her to answer until he decided it had been long enough, “Christ, Honey. Why is this guy so mad at you?”

“He’s just an ex, bud.”  
Five scoffed and shook his head, “If he were “just an ex”, he wouldn’t be sending you creepy letters.” The girl looked down at her hands and nervously played with the black nail polish on her short fingernails. The two sat in stale silence for what felt too long.

“I’m going to walk you home.” The sentence was said with such an air of finality, Honey felt that arguing with it would be a crime. She looked up at her newest friend with a genuine smile on her face. The gratitude in her eyes nearly made the old man smile as well before he concealed it with a nod. 

Fast forward to twenty minutes later when Honey’s shift ended. The two walked out of the closed-up coffee shop and silently walked down the dark streets. The college girl is normally not one for quiet. She likes constant music flooding her ears in the coffee shop, she feels joy whenever the bell above the shop door rings, and she loves to hear Bat’s non-stop meowing in her apartment. She was used to filling the quiet with noise because, otherwise, she felt consumed by her own thoughts. But things were different with Five. When she was with him, it felt like he repelled all the dark thoughts that crept up on her. Honey felt comforted in their shared silence.

They approached the old, brick building and made their way to the elevator. Getting out, Honey immediately noticed the figure sitting in front of her door. Apparently, so did Five. “Is that him?” She just nodded in reply, straightened her posture, and continued to her (currently occupied) apartment door. The haggard man got to his feet upon noticing the approaching figures. “Henrietta, I-” “You know I don’t want you to call me that.” The girl in question raised her chin. Not in defiance. But with the type of confidence she has felt since leaving him. 

Marcus scoffed, “I’m not calling you that ridiculous nickname. You’re a grown woman.” Five could see some of Honey’s confidence leaving her as the man in front of them continued to spout nonsense. “If you leave now nothing will happen, okay?” Five looked up at the man with a smile made of pure venom. The man laughed, “Wow. I didn’t think you could get more pathetic, yet here you are with a twelve year-old bodyguard.” Honey lowered her head, like all the powerful emotions she previously felt were sucked out of her. 

Five’s eyes narrowed at the man, “Listen here you dick,” he stepped closer, “I know how to end you in many ways which are all unpleasant. Unless you would like me to demonstrate these ways, I suggest you fuck off.”

Marcus shook off the threats with barely concealed fear, “How about reigning in your toy, Henrietta.” The thirteen year-old’s face nearly turned red with anger before a calm hand was placed on his shoulder. 

“Marcus, you should listen to my friend here and kindly fuck off.” Honey took a step forward, “Don’t ever come to my apartment again. Don’t ever send me another creepy ass letter again. Don’t ever think about me again. Got it?” Marcus nodded quickly as Five looked on with a proud smirk across his face. “If you ever, ever, do any of those things, not only will I kick your ass, but he will too,” She pointed at Five, who slowly pulled out a knife from his jacket before Honey pushed it back inside, but Marcus still saw it and nodded enthusiastically. The man stood frozen, waiting to see what the two people in front of him were going to do. The teenager rolled his eyes, “Leave. Now.” Honey’s ex hastily ran out of the hallway and towards the elevator, repeatedly pushing the button to shut the door.

Once Marcus was out of sight, the woman seemed to deflate as she unlocked her door silently. Five followed her in and watched as she slumped to the kitchen floor. Nodding to himself, he climbed onto the counter next to the fridge and grabbed two cups off the top of it, jumped down, and started the coffee maker. While waiting for the coffee to finish, Five glanced at the golden-haired girl who was still seated on the wooden floor. Her eyes weren’t full of sadness or anger, just...resignation. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw her with that look on her face. Actually, Five doesn’t think he’s ever seen that look on Honey’s face. 

The coffee maker beeped and he instantly filled the two mugs with fresh coffee. Five sat next to the exhausted girl and handed her the blue mug he knew to be a favorite of hers. 

Silence consumed them both. Just like when they were walking down the street, the quiet pulled them into a comfortable lull. All of a sudden, Honey’s roommate, Katie, popped her head into the kitchen, “Do you need anything?” They both tiredly shook their heads and Katie just smiled in return, “Okay! Just yell if you need anything.” With one last smile, she left the two to their silence, once again. 

They both have finished their coffees by the time Five stands up and begins to walk to the door. It’s nearly two am and his siblings might begin to get concerned. As he opens the door, he hears a whispered voice behind him, “Thanks, chief.” He turns around to see his, clearly exhausted, acquaintance looking at him with her usual small smile, decides “fuck it”, and smiles back at her. As he shuts the door behind him, he could faintly hear Honey wondering aloud if she hallucinated the smile or not.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank y'all so much for all the love and support! My co-author and I really enjoy reading your comments and replying to them! If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments! - Scary


End file.
